Ten Years
by ElsieLorraine
Summary: A lot can change in ten years. People change. Places change. A lot can change. /Slight OldRivalShipping\


_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or _Queen of My Heart_ by Westlife._

**Ten Years**

(*)

_'I'll always look back as I walk away. This memory will last for eternity.'_

(*)

Back when I was ten years old, I never visited any of my friends. Don't get me wrong though. I did have friends, but I wasn't one to go for visits to their houses. Instead, they were the ones who visited my house. It only made sense, seeing as my house was the closest coming from school. My mother always had snacks available just in case someone came over to play. If I wasn't in my house, I was out playing in the playground or exploring Pallet Town with everyone else. I never went to anyone else's house.

Ten years later and here I am going over to visit my childhood friends who I haven't seen in a while. Ever since we started our own Pokemon journeys, we all went our different ways. We did still keep in constant with each other. Pallet Town kids are pretty close despite the various rivalries that formed over the years.

After stopping over for lunch at the Ketchum residence (apparently Ash was home and taking a break from his travels, and apparently he was really surprised when I came over for a visit), I made my way to the other houses in the neighbourhood. Over time, things change. Some people who I've never met before were living in the houses I used to visit once upon a time. Other houses had been renovated that I got lost in the house itself. Still, it was good seeing the people I haven't seen in almost a decade. See, since the start of my journey, this was the first home visit I had which lasted for more than just an overnight.

I made my way up the hill to Professor Oak's lab. It was such a known landmark in my little town that even people from Hoenn and Sinnoh and other region came to visit the elderly Professor. Last time I visited, which was nearly two years ago, I met a girl about two years younger than me called May. Apparently she knew Ash so we exchanged numbers and have been friends ever since. I smiled at the memory.

That wasn't the only memory that came with the sight of the lab though. As Pallet town kids, we used to spend a lot of time helping the Professor out by taking care of the Pokemon older kids left during their long journeys. Since only six Pokemon could be carried, the rest were left here in the care of the Professor. Aside from my house and school, the lab was the only other building I went to when I was younger. Never had I gone in the house that was directly beside the lab. But that was ten years ago. And in ten years, things change.

I knocked thrice and waited for a few seconds before a woman in her mid-fifties opened the door. She greeted me with a smile that I returned.

"Leaf," she said, her voice not too different from what it had been ten years ago. "How have you been, darling?" She then gestured for me to go in the house.

"I've been great, Mrs Oak," I said as I entered the door. "My first movie's coming out next month."

Despite wanting to be a Pokemon Master for practically my whole childhood, I ended up being a director. It wasn't that I started to dislike Pokemon. I could never dislike them. My dream just changed over the years. In fact, of all the Pallet town kids who left the same year I did, only a third or so of us are still following the dreams they left with.

"I'll be sure to watch that, dear," Mrs Oak said with a sweet smile before ushering me to sit on one of the couches. "Wait here while I get Gary. He's either in the lab or asleep."

"Or both," I said, making her chuckle. She left then, and I was left with my thoughts. I looked around the room and smiled at the pictures that decorated the white walls and brown shelves.

My eyes stopped at one of the pictures and I grinned. This particular one came from me. The day Gary and Ash started their journeys, I snapped a picture of the pair outside Professor Oak's lab. It just so happened that I managed to snap a picture while Gary's cheerleading posse was in the middle of chanting their 'Gary is our man' cheer. Honestly, even I could have made a better cheer than that.

My mind though back to when we were all ten years old. It was the time that everybody wanted to be better than everyone else. They practically lived to show each other up, developing rivalries along the way. I was no exception, of course. I became rivals with Gary at one point because of something I can't even remember now. But whatever, rivals were not uncommon then.

The greatest rivalry though back then was between Gary and Ash. It was almost inevitable that the two would be rivals. They were born on the exact same day and had a lot of similar hobbies. Honestly though, at that time, despite him being a bit dense sometimes, I was on Ash's side. Yes, we picked sides too back then.

I think majority did pick Ash's side back then, although we didn't tell Gary that. Back ten years ago, Gary was so full of himself that he had enough ego to share around with the whole town and still have probably a bucketful or more extra for himself. That's how high and mighty he thought himself to be just because he was the Professor's one and only grandson. Heck, he even had his own cheer squad following him around. It was no wonder that he got a playboy reputation back then. And despite that negative reputation, he still managed to all act high and mighty whenever he was around any of us. Seriously though, who would _want_ to have the reputation of a playboy at the age of ten? It made a lot of people dislike him despite his mighty good looks.

Gary Oak back when he was ten years old was honestly a total ass. He shoved everyone around with all his I-am-holier-than-thou…swag or whatever one wanted to call it. Okay, probably not literally shoved, but you get the picture. Plus, it annoyed me how he strutted around like he owned the place. For the record, he didn't own the place. He was honestly the epitome of egotistical and conceited.

Thank goodness though that egotistical attitude of his toned down considerably.

I looked up to see if Gary was already in the room and I just didn't see him enter. Turns out he wasn't there yet and Mar Oak wasn't back yet either. I pulled a photo album out and flicked through the pages, stopping at photos that were taken five years ago, when we first met up after leaving home.

I just so happened to be in Hoenn the same time Gary was working as an assistant to Professor Birch. At that time, Gary had made friends with this guy called Drew. It was funny when I met him. Those two guys could have been brothers in their past life as far as their attitude went. Although fifteen-year-old Gary was a lot less cocky compared to when he was ten, there were still instances where he'd try to make himself look good (not necessarily appearance-wise since he didn't need to put effort into that anyway). In response, Drew would try and make himself look better, and then things will keep going until one of the two finally claims defeat. Not that their pride made them do that so easily.

Despite this, Gary was visibly and kinder and more caring Gary Oak. I recalled a conversation I had with him while we were alone in the Hoenn lab.

"_It's surprising,"_ I commented as he was looking at something through a microscope, _"that a person can change so drastically in the span on five years."_

"_You're talking about me aren't you?"_ he said, not lifting his sight from the microscope.

I rolled my eyes. _"You're the soon-to-be-professor. Figure it out."_

Gary shrugged. _"Five years is a long time, Leaf,"_ he said. As if I didn't know that already, but okay. _"Even one year can change a person _drastically_."_ For some reason which I concluded as to be mocking me, he put more emphasis on the last word. I stuck my tongue out to him for that, despite his face still stuck on the microscope.

I jumped off the table I was sitting on and walked to stand behind the busy Gary. _"So how is it?"_

"_How is what?"_

"_The change."_

At this, Gary finally took his face off from the eyepiece of the microscope and looked at me. _"I like it,"_ he said before going around me to fiddle with some chemicals. _"It's better, you know? I'm not that much of a dick anymore."_ He grinned and I couldn't resist grinning back.

"_So what happened to the immature Gary who thought the ruled the world back home?"_ I asked just to see what he'd say.

Gary smiled as if expecting that question. _"He grew up, Leaf, and pretty much found his position in the universe."_ For some reason even I don't know, I flicked his forehead for that answer.

"_I'm proud of you,"_ I told him anyway before leaving him alone with his…science stuff.

Two years ago, after leaving Pallet Town and meeting May, I headed over to the Ruby region, known for being red. Literally. And there, after three years, was where I met Gary again. This time, he wasn't an assistant anymore. When I we met each other there, he pretty much skipped over to me. Skipped. _Skipped_. And that was honestly a sight to see. I didn't hesitate to take my video camera out and take a few seconds on him skipping before he realised what I'd been doing and what he had been doing and stopped to walk ever so gallantly as if nothing happened. I snickered but kept the camera anyway. I kept the video for blackmail.

He then grabbed me in a hug, which surprised me, but I reciprocated after getting over my shock. I asked him why he was so happy and he told me that he was finally an official Pokemon professor after nearly six years of being an assistant to various other Professors. And I couldn't be happier for him.

That night we went out for dinner. Though we did keep in though through texting, calling and emailing, it was still great to finally see Gary in person again. I had bumped into a few friends over the years, but Gary was one of the few I _wanted_ to bump into. After that meeting in Hoenn, we became really close friends.

In the middle of having dinner and in the middle of out storytelling, Gary suddenly asked me, _"Do you want to go out, Leaf?"_

Although I knew what he meant, I couldn't help but reply with, _"But we are already out."_ As expected he rolled his eyes and looked at me as if wanting the serious answer now. I took a sip of water as I considered this. Despite many years of not seeing each other, I wasn't awkward with Gary. And this. This little night alone on a date-dinner thing didn't seem so bad. In fact, it felt strangely comfortable and strangely right. We still had quite a lot to learn about each other but hey, we could do that later on.

Plus, he was a better guy now. He wasn't like his ten year old self. Speaking of which…

"_No, you're a player."_

I giggled silently as he gaped at me. I giggled openly when he glared. _"Seriously, Leaf?"_

"_Aren't you?"_ I asked, biting my lip to keep myself from laughing out loud.

"_No,"_ he deadpanned. _"Never was, actually. Never will be either."_

"_So what was with the bunch of girls you travelled with when your journey started?"_

"_What about them?"_

"_You hired them the make you happy."_

"_You're succeeding in making me sound like a total manwhore. I'm not that type of guy."_ I grinned

"_Of course you aren't. You're a perverted guy who likes girls. Hence the whole group of them trailing you back then"_ I said, winking at him. He was fun to annoy. He gave a deep sigh before locking his onyx eyes ay me. And I smiled. _"I'd love to go out with you, just so you know." _I looked thoughtful_. "as long as you don't go looking at other girls of course. You'll have to control your hormones."_

I sat back down on the couch again after returning the photo album. As a hit the soft fabric of the couch, large hands clamped onto my eyes and I smiled. "Hey Gary," I said and the hands flew off my eyes. The next thing I knew was that there was another figure sitting down next to me. Talk about being a ninja.

"Hey, how've you been?" he asked before kissing my cheek and taking my hand in his. His hair was slightly messy. Apparently he had fallen asleep. I looked down at our entwined hand before looking up and meeting his eyes. I gave him a once over and perked a questioning eyebrow.

"Going anywhere?" I asked, not answering the question he asked me. He grinned.

"Yeah, I'm taking you out tonight," he said with a smug face. So that egotistical attitude did not _completely_ go away, but I liked Gary like this. He stood up and pulled me up with my hand which he was already holding. I did not resist so I stood up as well.

"And what makes you think I'm letting you take me out tonight?" I questioned, releasing his grip on my hand to cross my arms.

"You will," he said nonchalantly as he shrugged. "I know you enough to know that you'd let me take you out tonight."

My already perked eyebrow did not go down. "Oh really now? What makes you think I didn't change?"

Surprisingly, Gary chuckled at that. "Even if you did, it probably won't be _that_ drastic to change the fact that you'd be willing to let me take you out."

I rolled my eyes. He was right, after all. "Where are we going?"

"Double date with May and Drew. It's funny. A few years ago they were biting at each other's necks." He paused. "Actually, they probably still _are_ doing that but this time, you know, literally."

I slapped that pervert on the arm and he just laughed. Turns out a lot can change in such a short time.

* * *

**A/N: **Hi guys! Ho'd I go with my first official LeafGreen/OldRival story? I know it's not fluffy, but I just wanted to try this out. It's somewhat a character study thing (like I did to May and Drew) since many people think Gary's such a player, but I don't. HAHA. Anyway, i hope you guys had fun with this. I did.

Please review, comment suggestions, corrections, etc. Thanks guys!

- Raine


End file.
